New Judd-Hume Prize Will Award $40,000 to Art Writers, Philosophers, or Architects

Move over, curators.

Donald Judd in 1970. Photo Paul Katz, courtesy Judd-Hume Prize.

The world of art awards and residencies seems pretty densely populated these days, but in March 2017, a new and very special program is slated to hit the scene, and this time it will be art writers and philosophers—rather than artists or curators—who will benefit from it.

The Judd-Hume Prize, named after the artist Donald Judd and 18th-century Scottish philosopher David Hume, will be awarded annually to an international art writer, philosopher, or architect.

The winner will receive a generous £30,000 (over $39,000) cash prize, and will be invited to take up a two-month research fellowship in Edinburgh to explore and write on under-explored topics relating to Judd’s work such as Abstraction, Precognition, Object-ness, Image, or Function, among others.

The prize has been launched by the leading Judd expert Peter Ballantine—who worked with the artist from 1969 until his death—with the aim of promoting international scholarship and discussion around topics that lie at the intersection between the visual arts and philosophy.

The fellowship will be followed by a symposium at the University of Edinburgh, in which the winner’s research will be presented alongside contributions from peers.

But, eligible professionals reading these lines and looking forward to getting involved will have to hold their horses for at least one edition, as the first winner has already been announced: Dr. Gottfried Boehm, professor emeritus at the University of Basel and, until very recently, director of the program “Iconic Criticism” at the NCCR, also in Basel. Boehm is a world specialist in the study of Imagery and Image.

His fellowship will run from March to April 2017, followed by a symposium at the University in May 2017, culminating with the publication of his new research.


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